Eric Dier once turned down call-up by Gareth Southgate but he is now set to play leading role under England boss

It was November 2014 and Gareth Southgate was preparing England’s Under 21s for two important games when he received a phone call from Eric Dier.
England’s Under 21s had just qualified for Euro 2015 and fixtures against Portugal and France had been arranged; the head coach was looking to see what his best XI would be for Euro 2015 but Dier felt the need to speak with Southgate.
Dier was playing as a right back then. He had only just moved to England from Sporting Lisbon and was anxious about how his progress. So, along with his father, Jeremy, he went to see Southgate and told him he wanted... read more

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